Friday, May 30, 2014

At
night in the forest, the woodland creatures come alive, with glittering
eyes and wings ready to take flight, as crickets crackle and insects
hum. It is a time of magic and mystery, when everything can happen and
you are there to bear witness to the awakenings. It is Varekai. It is
Cirque du Soleil and all the enchanted elements are poised to capture
your imagination.

Varekai is a Romany word, a word of nomads and
gypsies, and means "wherever." This wherever is at the top of a volcano
at the site where possibilities are endlessly captivating. Into this
mystical world falls a young man, Icarus, who has traveled too near the
sun and is now on the cusp of a grand adventure and you are invited to
hold on to his snowy feathers of white and come along on his journey of
discovery.

The innocent and fragile Icarus is searching for
himself in a strange world. He is fearful and hurt but he desperately
wants to be whole and free and will go to great lengths to reach new
heights. Trapped in a white spider's net that holds him prisoner,
Icarus dives and swoops through the air with grace and amazing agility.

He
is destined to meet and be exotically attracted to a strange and
beautiful creature who will be his guide into a wondrous new world. He,
in turn, will be her catalyst for change and help her with her
metamorphosis, as she is his Betrothed. Overseeing this world of nature
is a man of much wisdom who has witnessed much change. To many he is a
kindly great-grandfather figure, the Guide, who will lead the
inhabitants of his domain to alterations.

Completing this unusual
space is a mad scientist/weather man/inventor who experiments in his
laboratory, interpreting signs, sounds and wonders. He is the
Skywatcher who predicts troubles before they occur as he uses his genius
as a master fortune teller. In addition to these main story players,
there are a myriad of performers and entertainers to amaze and astonish
from many corners of the globe.

Hold your breath as a daring
young woman uses a hoop to sway and swing in a series of incredible and
graceful movements, like a ballet in the air. Watch the power and
precision of two aerolists create striking silhoettes, hanging by only
two straps, high above the crowds. From the Republic of Georgia come
military-like dancers who parade their power and precision in the
traditional style of their ancestors. Imagine balancing your entire
body on a fragile cane or two with grace and flexibility or performing
like a disjointed puppet on crutches.

Take part in Icarian
Games where acrobatics are spectacularly achieved as bodies catapult
through the air with amazing agility. Prepare to be entertained as a
master juggler, Octavio Alegria, balances everything from hats, balls
and bowling pins, on every extremity of his body. Follow the astounding
Russian Swings as acrobats soar in midair, only to alight on a partner, a
canvas ramp or on another swing. The circus comes alive as an ice
skating rink as performers skate and slide in a rainbow of color on a
Slippery Surface. What would Cirque du Soleil be without at least one
pair of silly clowns, in this case Joanna and Steven, as they inspire
laughter and joy.

For all this fun and amazement come to the
Webster Bank Arena, 600 Main Street at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport from
Wednesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 8 for performances at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m on Saturday and
1:30 p.m. on Sunday.For tickets ($35-145), call 800-745-3000 or go online to www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/varekai/tickets/bridgeport or Ticketmaster.com.

Cirque du Soleil began
humbly enough in Quebec in 1982 when a small troupe of jugglers and stilt
walkers took to the sidewalks to perform for the crowds.Today it is international in scope,
boasting more than two dozen distinctly different shows, that entertain and
astonish millions each year, from England and France to Japan and China.

For
family adventure of spectacular style, let Cirque du Soleil's troupe of
performers soar and tumble, dance and clown, all for your amusement.

Monday, May 26, 2014

If rock 'n roll is still your music of choice and turning
back the clock so you can rock around it still sounds like a great idea,
then roll down your bobby socks because I've got a show with your name
engraved
on it. The year is 1956 and the gyrating guys who can sing up a
tornado of sound are Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and
Elvis Presley. They all accidentally and magically turn up at Sun
Records on the same day and what happens next is the source
of legends. As a jam session goes, this one was smokin' hot and
unforgettable. Tuesday, December 4, 1956 lives on in the smash musical
hit "Million Dollar Quartet, written by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott,"
as it recreates that one and only legendary day in
the history of rock 'n roll.

You can be there, front and center, at the modest Memphis,
Tennessee recording studios of Sun Records where this quartet of
musical icons set the red hot rafters ringing when "Million Dollar
Quartet" lights up
the stage of the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Saturday, June 7 at 2
p.m. and 8 p.m.

Think of it as a personal playlist of your favorite hits
as these great tunes come tumbling out. Listen to "Great Balls of
Fire," "Sixteen Tons," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin'
On," "Hound Dog,"
"Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk the Line," "Fever," "Memories Are Made of
This," "Long Tall Sally" and "See You Later, Alligator," among others.

Hips will swivel, guitar strings will be set aflame and
history will be recorded when an impromptu jam session became an instant
legend making event. Carl Perkins (CT native James Barry) had come to
Sun Records
that day with his brothers and Sam Phillips, (Vince Nappo) the owner of
Sun, added Jerry Lee Lewis, (Benjamin Goddard) a recent acquisition, to
the mix as pianist. When Elvis Presley (Cody Slaughter) dropped by with
his girlfriend (Kelly Lamont), he added
his voice to the cauldron and it was the final arrival of Johnny Cash
(David Elkins) that made the recipe complete.

These guys, all at different stages of music fame, sat
down and sang like a group of old friends, without rehearsals or formal
plans, and Cowboy Jack Clement, the engineer, was smart enough to record
it. Fate
clearly played a hand, a winning one, in achieving musical history.
Billy Shaffer and Corey Kaiser complete the swinging lineup.

Country music, rockabilly and rock 'n roll merge and marry
as these fellows sing just for the pure pleasure of the sound. For Sam
Phillips, called "the Father of Rock 'n Roll," these four men were like
his four
sons and this show reveals a lot about their relationship, where they
came from and where they were going. It is a sensational staged
recreation of the actual event.

For tickets ($50-70), call the Palace, 100 East Main
Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at
www.palacetheaterct.org. Performances are Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8
p.m.

Prepare to dance right out of your seat as these four wild
men of music move, groove and shake, rattle and roll. Memories are
made of this.

Playwright
John Carini believes in T.G.I.F., so he's a Thank God It's Friday kind
of guy. After all, he set all ten vignettes in his almost brand new
comedy "Love/Sick" on Friday nights, involving couples, female and male,
male and male, female and female, before, during and after they have
visited the local grocery chain, Super Center. Call him cynical and
slightly quirky, but John Carini has a unique take on love. You can
tell he really REALLY wants to believe in its power but he's a Missouri
type who says "Show me."

Until Sunday, June 22, TheaterWorks of
Hartford will be tossing orange blossoms and rose petals and
spotlighting Carini's take on romantic possibilities at their intimate
space at 233 Pearl Street. A wildly talented cast of four-Pascale
Armand, Bruch Reed, Chris Thorn and Laura Woodward-are ready and willing
to take all the risks in the pursuit of wedded bliss. All you have to
do is sit back and laugh (or shed a tear or two) at the intriguing and
ridiculous situations they find themselves in, all in the name of love.

Meet
a pair of obsessive-compulsive people who think, act and speak
simultaneously and may talk heart-to-heart language. Watch Louise
excitedly receive a singing telegram that might not contain the message
she's anticipating.Travel the slow and fast lanes of love with two men
who are obeying totally different traffic signals. Peek behind the
bathroom door of a bride-to-be as she ponders one of the biggest
decisions of her life and then fast forward to a couple already wed who
are questioning everything about their relationship.

Meet a woman
who blurts out she had sex, I mean quiche, for lunch to her
unsuspecting spouse and another couple who want to replace their "beige
life" with color. Say hello to Roger and Jill who desperately want to
be hap-happy-happier, and commiserate with Abby and Liz who seem to be
disappearing in their family unit and need to find each other again.
Finally collide with Jake and Emily in the Super Center as they discover
if they have a spark to rekindle. Let director Amy Saltz be your
official love counselor in this tangled jungle of affections.

For tickets ($50-65, senior matinee $35), call TheaterWorks at 860-527-7838 or online at www.theaterworkshartford.org. Performances are Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.

Gather
ye red rose buds and explore all of love's varied puzzles and
possibilities, courtesy of master gardener of emotions John Carini.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Artistic
director Brett Bernardini of the Spirit of Broadway Theater might
subscribe to the motto "Bold Is Beautiful." Like a Sherlock Holmes
detective, he seeks out the innovative, cutting edge, imaginative
musicals to showcase, often as world premieres. A faithful attendant at
the October workshop of the National Alliance of Musical Theatre in New
York City, he has often discovered gems to nurture in Norwich at his
wonderful intimate incubator-like site.

Hold on to your
houndstooth deerstalker hat because Bernardini has stated emphatically
that his newest find, "Bleeding Love" is the "finest work we have done
in 17 years." With a book by Jason Schafer, music by Arthur Lefrantz
Bacon and lyrics by Harris Doran, "Bleeding Love" is guaranteed to
expand your mind about the definition of musical theater.

Think
fractured fairy tales. Think of the music of Yo Yo Ma. Think Tim Burton
meets Courtney Love. Imagine a post-apocalyptic world of darkness and
danger that is wildly different from what anyone has known before. Few
signs of life exist in this bleak landscape where a frozen death
prevails.

A lovely young girl Bronwyn, enchantingly portrayed by
Avery Wigglesworth, sits in solitude plaintively playing her cello by a
window that looks out on an abyss of blackness. Her days are filled
with her music and caring for her aunt, a demanding Shawn Rucker, whose
basic needs include periodic injections of drugs.

Listening to
Bronwyn's magical music is Sweet William, an easily influenced Elliot
Peterson, who leaves cans of fruit cocktail at her door as signs of
affection. He does this in secret as he sweeps the stairs, in express
defiance of his stern father, a gun totting Justin Carroll.

Outside
the apartment house are a domineering and controlling dominatrix Lolli,
brought to startling life by Alyssa Chiarello, who leads a skinhead
boy, appropriately called Puppy, as if he is her pet. Puppy is a
conflicted Jacob Scheyder who obeys his female master until he realizes
he can think for himself.

How these six diverse characters
interact in this bizarre environment is at times scary, frightening,
illuminating and heartbreaking. With music that ranges from Broadway to
classical to rock, under the baton of musical director Dan Brandl, the
tunes soar with emotion, of loneliness and longing and the search for
love. Can the quest of discovering one live red rose be the answer to
all Bronwyn's questions?

For tickets ($32), call the Spirit of Broadway Theater, 24 Chestnut Street, Norwich at 860-886-2378 or online at www.spiritofbroadway.org.
Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday
at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Consider having dinner at Kensington's at
The Spa at Norwich Inn before the show for only $54 per person for both
dining and theater. Call the box office to reserve.

Now is also
the time to make plans to attend the High School Music Theater Awards
held this year at Waterbury's Palace Theater on Monday, June 2. Go
online to make a donation to the scholarship fund for the winning
students, a fine institution founded in 2008 to honor our youth by
Bernardini..

Discover that magic and hope are still possible even in a world of devastation and desolation.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Olives are an acquired taste, a flavored fruit that
varies with the color of its skin. The plant family it
de!rives from includes jasmine and lilacs and in
countries like Greece no meal is complete without them.
First green, then red, then black, the olive is bitter
if taken directly from the tree and would cause severe
illness if it is not cured for weeks in a vat of spices.

Cultivated for 5000-6000 years, it is the source of much
prized olive oil, especially the first press or darkest
green. Its branches are a symbol of peace and
abundance. But if your parents named you Olive, you
might discover everyone doesn't immediately fall in love
with you. This is especially true if you answer to the
name Olive Fisher and you're an aging actress whose only
real claim to fame is as the star of a series of
commercials about luncheon meat. Being referred to as
the "Meryl Streep of the Sausage Patty" might not be a
satisfying line on your acting resume.

Come meet this cranky and feisty lady in Charles Busch's
comedy "Olive and the Bitter Herbs" being served up on a
silver platter by Square One Theatre Company weekends
until Saturday, May 31 at the Square One Theatre, 2422
Main Street, Stratford.

Alice McMahon's Olive is pretty much mad at the world.
Her acting career has been unsatisfying, her apartment
is only rented, not owned like everyone else's, she's
fighting with the board president, the custodial crew
ignores her and her neighbors are driving her up her
paper thin walls. She has outlived the loud and crabby
lady upstairs only to now be plagued by the two men,
life partners, who have moved in next door. Everything
about them irratets her, especially when they receive
their smelly installment from the Cheese of the Month
Club.

A kind-hearted younger woman Wendy (Michelle Duncan) who
has a history of helping elderly actresses and doing all
things theatrical, tries to nudge Olive into more
creative endeavors, but it's going to take a bulldozer
to budge this stubborn fixture. Wendy arranges for the
ascerbic Trey (Jim Buffone) and pacifist Robert (Barry
Hatrick), her unlucky neighbors, to visit Olive but no
branches of peace are extended. Even an impromptu
Passover seder (hence the bitter herbs) does little to
change the tense atmosphere.

Into this hodge- podge of geniality wanders the
perpetual widower Sylvan (Al Kulcsar), ostensibly
representing his daughter, the co-op board chair, to
defuse the feud between the women. His romantic
overtures to Olive are quickly rebuffed.

Three events occur that change the dynamics of the
group: Olive senses a presence, an apparition, in her
mirror, a spirit she names Howard; Wendy gets offered a
dream job across the country; and Olive has a television
episode of a murder mystery being shown that night that
she hopes will jump start her career. All the usual
suspects gather and a string of secrets, confessions,
revelations and coincidences occur. Tom Holehan directs
this spicy and acidic dish that changes the flavors in
Olive's world.

For tickets ($20, seniors $19), call the Square One
Theatre at 203-375-8778 or online at www.squareonetheatre.com.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday
at 2 p.m., with a twilight show Saturday, May 31. Take
exit 32 off I-95.

Enter Olive's war with words at your own risk as she
battles the world from her living room couch and few
things emerge unscathed.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Now is the time for all good
men and women to make their reservations for the annual Civil War Round
Table dinner to be held at the Laurel View Country Club, 310 West
Shepard Avenue, Hamden, CT. The festivities will commence on Monday,
June 9 at 6 p.m., with a cheese and cracker tray and a cash bar, with
dinner at 7 p.m.

Former President Abraham Lincoln personally
requests your attendance as he is the topic for discussion and he wants a
big crowd to hear Lewis Dube and Tom Cruciani present "An Evening with
Abraham Lincoln."

Sit up straight and make sure your homework is neat and complete because
the priest and nuns at St Bastien's School are ready to call
attendance. If you
were ever a student at Catholic school, memories
will come flooding back as Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury presents
"Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" until Sunday, June
15.

With book by John R. Powers and music and lyrics by James
Quinn and Alaric Jans, this musical is guaranteed to have you brushing
up on your Saints and watching out so you don't commit any sins. The
show features eight youngsters living in Chicago as they learn their
Catechism, get a few knuckles hit with a ruler and discover how to be
good people. Their story goes from elementary school to high school
graduation and beyond, starting in the 1950's.

Come meet Will
Holly as Eddie and Alexandria Howley as Becky as they struggle to find
common ground as friends first and maybe something more later. Their
rocky road relationship runs through the classroom and follows them out
the door into adulthood.

Joining them are Kelsey Beckett as
Nancy, Lauren Devine as Mary, Brett Bainer as Felix, John Lampe as Mike,
Pamela McKenna as Virginia and Boe Wank as Louie. Supervising their
religious education and moral upbringing are James Donohue as Father and
Patricia Bartlett, Andrea Gallo, Kadie Tolderlund and Theresa Amico as
the good Sisters.

Watch puppy love transform into something more
as these kids grow up and mature and learn about life and discover
everything you do becomes part of your permanent record (and there's no
such thing as Facebook yet). One strict rule the nuns teach is for the
girls to wear undies under their plaid school uniform so their black
patent leather shoes don't reflect up.

Between the growing
pains and adolescent years, there's a lot of snappy dancing and sweet
and funny moments: think a Catholic school version of "Glee." Semina
De Laurentis directs this charming visit back to a gentler time, in a
show that broke attendance records in both Chicago and Philadelphia.

Relationships
are notoriously dangerous as more than 50% of marriages ending in
divorce would testify. Looking back gives the participants the
advantage of hindsight, when one is able to review all the opportunities
missed, all the pitfalls that one was destined to fall in and all
the mistakes that might have been avoided if one turned right instead of
left. Crystal balls are not readily available, however, to give one
the foresight to see potential problems before committing them. The
world could take a lesson in why going to war is so often an error, yet
history keeps repeating itself.

For a musical cautionary tale that touches the heart in its poignancy and honesty, look no further than Long Wharf Theatre's
current
offering “The Last Five Years” by Jason Robert Brown, playing until
Sunday, June 1. Katie Rose Clarke as Cathy Hyatt and Adam Halpin as
Jamie Wellerstein are the couple in question: she, a struggling young
actress and he, an up and coming new author looking for his voice, meet
and fall headlong into love.

These New Yorkers tell their
tales from both sides of the relationship. Cathy’s side of the story is
told in flashbacks, as she reviews all the steps and pieces, the broken
trail of missteps that led them to the end of their romance. Jamie, on
the other hand, looks expectantly forward, from the first blush of new
love to the final moment when he admits defeat and leaves a note of
farewell. They each blame the other. If Jamie hadn't sold his first
novel so quickly and so successfully, if Cathy had gotten parts that
didn't play in Ohio, if religious differences didn't surface, if he
hadn't become the center of his universe effectively pushing her
aside...all these intrude and obscure their affection.

Their
bittersweet story is told in a series of songs, concert style, where
they open their hearts and reveal their souls, at once hopeful and
eager, at once anxious and fearful, the whole gamut of emotions that
characterize a relationship. The music captures where they are at that
precise moment in their romance, from first date, to Jamie’s mother’s
disapproval, to a book signing party, Cathy’s angst- ridden auditions,
their first Christmas, and all the important moments in-between. Gordon Edelstein directs this heartfelt tribute to romance and all its intricacies
of delight and devilment.

For tickets ($40-75 and up), call
Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven at 203-787-4282 or
online at www.longwharf.org. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m.,
Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m.,
Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Let
Cathy and Jamie take you by the hand and lead you down the garden path
as they discover all the glorious growths and disappointing weeds that
can affect the seeds of love.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Imagine my joy when, after missing the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
wonderful "Art in Bloom" display of floral arrangements being inspired
by paintings, discovering I was at the New Britain Museum of American
Art for their "Bubbles and Blooms" celebration. Area garden clubs use a
painting or sculpture at the museum for inspiration to create a floral
arrangement. Blink and you've missed it as the flowers have an
expiration date! It's well worth marking your calendar so you don't
miss it next year.

Don't dismay, there is still lots to see at the
New Britain Museum, like James Prosek's Wondrous Strange art exhibit of
fantastical animals, flounders to zebras until June 8. A recent trip to
Africa inspired his latest nature art series. Sign up for a special art
class. Examine the comic book covers. Stroll through the permanent
exhibits and explore the special ones, like a room full of typewriters. and another of miniatures.
See what's hanging (looks like a flying fish to me) where the wall of
colorful cups used to be. See Rashmi's adorable beaded doll earrings
and necklaces in the gift shop. Stay for lunch on the patio.

Plan a wonderful day at this neat and exciting art space. Be sure to say hi to the stalwart guard at the door.

Have you ever been at a loss for words? What do you say or do to help
when someone is ill, at a funeral, when hard times hit someone you care
about a lot? Would it help to have a book of tools and suggestions,
concrete ways to be a good friend?

For Letty Cottin Pogrebin, the
answer is a resounding yes. She has spent more than seven decades of
her life being pro-active, fighting for justice, a take-charge woman who
knows how to get things done and done right. The author of ten books, a
journalist, activist and a national lecturer, she co-founded Ms.
Magazine with Gloria Steinem in 1971 and is a tireless advocate for
peace, for women and for improving the human condition.

How
appropriate is it, therefore, that when this strong, vibrant woman was
given a diagnosis of breast cancer, she would research the disease and
try to smooth the path for others facing illness and many of life's
difficult problems.

Ms. Pogrebin spoke recently for the Women of
Vision Society of the New Haven Jewish Foundation at Long Wharf Theatre
about "How To Be a Friend To a Friend Who's Sick," her latest book, and
shared her insights gleaned from dozens of interviews she conducted
while awaiting her radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Hospital in New York. Not one to waste time, she queried fellow
patients and family members about what was helpful and not so much in
conversations, actions, gifts and support, especially when crises occur.

Her
overriding motto is "kindness is empathy plus action" and it is the
strong foundation for all her helpful hints. She offers lists of
suggestions in a number of categories, like ways to help someone whose
friend or loved one is sick. You might give frequent flyer miles,
babysit their kids, be a secretary and take over personal communication
to others, create a web page as a caring bridge to keep everyone
informed of the patient's progress, burn a CD of music, stock their food
pantry, bring over a meal or take them out to eat, suggest they keep a
journal as an oral history of their loved one, call regularly and listen
well, be available to help and only offer your company when it's
desired.

Being compassionate and non-judgmental with someone who
has experienced an issue of depression, attempted suicide, reversal of
economic situations or a condition they are ashamed to admit. Be there
to listen and support. Letty learned many of these lessons early on in
her life when her mother died of cancer when she was only 15 years of
age.

In hopeless situations, she suggests helping yourself first
and then others, to be honest about your feelings, don't fade away, give
care and keep company with the caregiver and preserve memories of
better days. If the family is in mourning, ask and act, watch for
signals, be sensitive to needs, attend the funeral, express your
sympathy briefly, simply, with heartfelt and short words, recall a
personal positive story, avoid saying unfeeling comments, create a
mourning ritual to honor the deceased, use the written word to express
feelings to reflect on a life well lived and help the mourners find a
support group if they desire one. Help them deal with their loved one's
possessions. Only offer to help if you mean it. Be silent and listen.

10 Rules
for Friends of a Parent Who's Lost a Child to Illness, Accident or
Suicide: provide love and support for the long haul, pay attention to
their needs, touch and comfort them. Be demonstrative, with hugs and
hand holding. Don't rush their recovery, grieving is a personal
journey. Don't distract them with trivial activities. Remember their
child, talk and share. Keep track of the calendar, mark special days,
make a donation to charity in memory. Don't let alcohol be an answer.
Alert others to why you are unavailable for them, as you are there for
your friend. Don't feel a new baby can take the place of the one who
died.

There's an art to being a friend to a friend who's sick.
In the end, only kindness matters. Translate empathy into action.
Know what to say, when to be silent, be comfortable in your silences and
make each other feel safe.

Appreciate
life and its wonders, enjoy "perfectly abundant" moments, don't
postpone joy. Be conscious of your miraculous heart and the "unexpected
rewards of age and illness." Be mindful that life comes with an
expiration date. Adapt a "sweetened taste for life," thanks to Letty Cottin Pogrebin.

Monday, May 12, 2014

For years I've gone to bed with the same man, Mondays through Fridays,
usually right before midnight so it was a thrill to actually see him in
person for the first time. Comedian Jay Leno was this year's Mary and
Louis Fusco Distinquished Lecturer at Southern
Connecticut State University on Friday, May 9 to a packed house of
admirers. Past recipients over the last sixteen years have been Colin
Powell, Walter Cronkite, Tim Russert, Michael J. Fox, Astronaut Mark
Kelly and Alan Alda, among others.

Don't look for pearls of wisdom, life lessons or a philosophy to live
by. Leno, who was king of the late night television circuit, on The
Tonight Show, on NBC, is known for his timing, story telling and wry
sense of humor. He didn't disappoint.

Now that Jimmy Fallon has taken over the late night spot, Jay Leno has
taken his stand-up comedy routine on the road. He admitted easily that
on television he did different material in the same place every night.
Now, on the road, he does the same material
in a different place five nights a week.

With an easy, affable personality, Leno riffed on a variety of topics
from IKEA stores in Thailand to teenage girls' underwear at Walmart. He
claims it's harder to tell who's crazy now, due to our technology since
people talking to themselves may really be
speaking on their blue tooth phones.

He admitted his best interviews have been with politicians, from
President Ronald Reagan to President Barack Obama. The topics that drew
his attention ranged from Hugh Hefner and his new wife, Mr. Potato Head
the toy and Jerry Lewis supposedly naming our medications,
where the side effects are worse than the disease.

From airport security and terrorists to cats vs. dogs as pets to women
who freeze their eggs, he hopscotched to Carnival Cruises, Charlie Sheen
and the unique joys of living in Los Angeles. The perpetual car lover,
he made fun of the Smartcar and spending
$108 to fill his SUV. With a garage that has at least 100 cars and
vintage and modern motorcycles, he also has a car show on the internet,
"Jay Leno's Garage."

He's written several books, for children and adults, even inspiring a
superhero "The Crimson Chin," as well as voicing characters in movies
and shows, from a carpenter, detective and journalist to a fire hydrant,
jack-o-lantern, rabbit and king. Right now
he's writing his material for a May 22 awards ceremony in Israel, to
present the Genesis Prize to its first recipient former New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg. He and his wife Mavis will stop in London and Rome
during this trip.

Wherever he goes, like a recent trip to China, or being inducted into
the Televison Hall of Fame, Jay Leno is a consummate performer who knows
how to tickle those funny bones and give his listeners the joyous gift
of laughter.

From April to September, baseball is king to thousands, maybe millions
of fans and no one more so than Joe Boyd, a die-hard, true blue, loyal
and dedicated Red Sox rooter. For years he has watched his beloved team
struggle against insurmountable odds, especially
against those "damn Yankees." In a moment of impetuous despair, Joe
declares that he would sell his soul for the Red Sox to break their
curse and win the pennant. Fortuitously or not, the devil in the guise
of one Mr. Applegate overhears Joe's exclamation
and offers Joe the chance of a lifetime.

Grab your popcorn, peanuts and Cracker Jacks and get a seat behind home
plate for the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross words and music and book by
George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, "Damn Yankees." This special Red Sox
edition is credited to Joe DiPietro. The
baseball season will be in full swing until Saturday, June 21 at
Goodspeed Musicals on the Connecticut River in East Haddam.

The conniving and despicable Mr. Applegate, a devilishly slick David
Beach, plays on Joe Boyd's obvious weakness, willing to sacrifice
everything to make the Red Sox winners. He persuades him to leave his
devoted wife Meg to become a sharp long ball hitter,
one with the power to take the team out of the cellar and lead it to
triumph.

In a virtual puff of smoke, the aging overweight Joe Boyd (James Judy)
morphs into the young and virile Joe Hardy, a dynamic Stephen Mark Lukas
and talks his way onto the team led by a brusk but benevolent Coach Van
Buren (Ron Wisnicki). Once he shows his
prowess, Joe is embraced by his mates, (Michael Mendez, Danny Lindgren,
Victor J. Wisehart) until the inquisitive sports reporter Gloria (Lora
Lee Gayer) starts to question Joe's record, his background, his home
town, his credits, practically what he ate for
breakfast.

Meanwhile back at home, Joe's loyal and loving wife Meg, a supportive
Ann Arvia, is lucky to have the friendship of good pals Doris (Allyce
Beasley) and Sister (Kristine Zbornik). While Meg is less than a
baseball fan, her gal pals are avid and eager admirers
of the new idol on the mound. When Joe arrives at Meg's doorstep to
rent a room, they are overjoyed to recognize their hero.

Applegate isn't happy with his newest recruit and sends in his top
Temptress with a capital T to keep Joe in line. The luscious Lola, a
sensuous Angel Reda, uses all her wiles to lure Joe over to the dark
side. Can Joe use his magic arm to rally the team
to victory? Can Lola convince Joe to forget Meg? Will Applegate make
good on his devious scheme? Will the Red Sox prevail over those damn
Yankees?

Daniel Goldstein directs this theatrical home run, on a diamond perfect
set by Adrian W. Jones, with patriotic red, white and blue costumes by
David C. Woolard and brisk baseball inspired choreography by Kelli
Barclay. Songs like "Heart," "Shoeless Joe from
Hannibal, MO," "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets," "Two Lost Souls" and "A
Man Doesn't Know" are show stopping hits.

For tickets ($27 and up), call the Goodspeed Musicals, 6 Main Street,
East Haddam (exit 7 off route 9) at 860-873-8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org.
Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.,
Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (with select matinees at 2 p.m.), Friday at 8
p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (select 6:30
p.m.).

Grab your baseball bat and glove and swing at a home run winner as "Damn Yankees" comes up to the Goodspeed Musicals home plate.
Wearing red socks is optional.

Grab a pink flamingo, your webbed lawn chair and a brewski because
you're invited to take up temporary residence at Armadillo Acres, the
pride of Starke, Florida. As trailer parks go, this one is a doozy as
you'll discover as "The Great American Trailer Park
Musical" roars into the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre weekends until
Saturday, June 7.

Plan to park your double wide next to the Garsteckis, Norbert, the
amiable toll booth collector brought to life by Bobby Schultz and his
wife Jeannie, the traumatized Kelly Gallagher who has never recovered
from the kidnapping of their baby son. They are about
to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary and Jeannie can't step
out of her cocoon of a home. Norbert has tickets for the Ice Capades to
lure her over the doorstep, but will it be enough?

Armadillo Acres can also boast a Greek chorus of ladies willing to
gossip, swap stories, clean your toilet, defend your honor, teach you
4-letter cussing, whatever it takes to make you feel right at home.
These gals brag that they live "this side of the tracks"
and their loyal friendship proves to be the spicy cheese on their
nachos. Louise Dechesser as Betty, Julie Lemos as Lin as in Linoleum
and Jessica Rubin as Pickles display their "stand by your man" or
"woman" with velcroed to the heart devotion.

Into this happy little campfire comes Pippi, a sensual and sweet
marshmallow Kaite Corda, a gal who earns her living removing articles of
clothing to music. Her arrival sets tongues wagging and libidos
rising, especially when her half-crazed ex-boyfriend Duke,
a high on magic markers Chris Pearson, grabs a gun and sets off to find
her.

The musical has a popcorn string of clever songs penned by David Nehls
that wrap around the down home and earthy story created by Betsy Kelso.
Kelso grew up in Bethany, CT and now lives in California. She admits
she never lived in a trailer park, although
Bethany has a nice one. Director Kris McMurray has a lot of fun putting
this great big hearted cast on a merry chase all around the park. A
lively band led by Pawel "Pauly Taters" Jura kept the joint jumpin'.

In an interview with Kelso, she confided, "David Nehls and I met on tour
in Europe when we were both still performers. I was already doing some
writing with a sketch comedy group, so David approached me about
writing the book for a musical set in a trailer
park. At the time, he had a lot of “trunk songs” (songs he’d written
for other projects) that he was using as a musical framework for the
piece, along with the idea that there would be a “Greek chorus” of
trailer park housewives to help tell the story. Over
time, we cut that Greek chorus from six down to three and changed out
most of the songs as the story developed and changed. Even after the
show was produced at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2004, we
still continued to develop and make changes to
it in preparation for its Off Broadway opening in 2005.

I never lived in a trailer park, but I grew up in a town that has one
(yes, Bethany, CT, has a trailer park — a nice one!). I remember in
elementary school one of my friends lived there and I thought it was so
cool because it was different. Now I think it’s
the sense of instant community that draws me in. That’s definitely an
experience we like the audience to have — being part of a community with
all its flaws and gossip and fun for a couple of hours.

When the idea for a Christmas-themed companion piece arose, David
and I approached Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston because they’d had
so much success with the original (they produced it on two separate
occasions with extended runs). Kenn McLaughlin,
the Producing Artistic Director for Stages Rep., said “yes” to the
Christmas idea right away and we began developing it. The response has
been great — there are already at least three productions happening this
year and a few more in the pipeline, so we’re
very excited about that. And the original cast recording for “The Great
American Trailer Park CHRISTMAS Musical” will be released this
spring/summer." Maybe the CT Cabaret will revisit Armadillo Acres
around the holidays.

For tickets ($30), call the CT Cabaret Theatre, 31-33 Webster Square Road, Berlin at 860-829-1248 or online at www.ctcabaret.com. Performances are Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m., with doors opening
at 7:15 p.m. Bring snacks to share at your table or buy cake and drinks at the concession stand.

Plan a visit to Armadillo Acres for a colorful change of pace that will perk you up and rev your engines. Holy Ham-sandmiches!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Two Whimsical Creations by Susan Tabachnick in her Lost and Found Circus

When
Susan Tabachnick of Bridgeport found a flange in 2007, she took the
unusual piece home and put it on her windowsill. Months later she saw a
copper toilet float and fit the two pieces together perfectly. Thus
began an avocation or hobby that has been occupying her spare time and
has led to her first artistic exhibition: The Lost and Found Circus A
Creative Balancing Act. Bridgeport's Barnum Museum will be showing off
her work through the end of August, from Thursday to Saturday, 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m.

Tabachnick sees humor and personality in the pieces she
assembles, metal or wood or ceramic, for they become her "toys" and
"building blocks" as she fits them into an object of interest. Rather
than soldering them together, she places them in a pleasing arrangement
and balances each part until her eye tells her it is finished. This
balancing act can become a problem if she disassembles the parts and
then tries to reassemble them, unless she has taken a photograph first.

Attracted
by shapes, sizes, materials and color, the pieces speak to her and tell
her how they need to be combined. She "marries" these odd discarded
items together and has no idea what most of the stuff is. For her, it's
an "intuitive process" that responds to how she sees each piece. It's
"totally imaginary" and she is often amazed at "how the pieces come and
create a dialogue."

Always good with her hands, she got her love
for artistic handiwork when she learned to embroider at the age of
five. Using her hands to create something new is both "joyous and
fun." She doesn't think of herself as an artist but rather as someone
who enjoys taking things apart and putting those same items back
together.

Even though Tabachnick doesn't name her creations, her
associate George Carsillo of Design Monsters does. He designed posters
for her 3 ring circus like Mesmerizing Spinning Giant and Amazing
Unknown Whirling Creature.

To give herself inspiration, she
attends estate sales where she might buy three carloads of objects for
$20 or pay $40 or $50 for only one item. The fun is in the discovering
first and the creation second. The goal is a balanced union and she
doesn't alter or fit anything permanently.

To try your own hand
at this small sculpture design, attend a workshop "Inventive Play" with
Susan Tabachnick on Wednesday, July 16 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Bring your own "found objects" or use the ones provided. A donation of
$5 per family is suggested, for ages 8 to adult. Go to
www.barnum-museum.org.

Come see Susan Tabachnick's imaginative circus sculptures and discover clowns and monkeys or whatever you "see."

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Just
in time for Mother's Day, four women from Fairfield County have
produced a book of vignettes about mothers and daughters: "MoMoirs."
These memoirs have been penned with affection and angst by Gayle
Gleckler, an advertising maven, Eileen Grace, a multimedia artist doing
everything from crayons to clay, Linda Howard Urbach, a novelist who
wrote about Madame Bovary's daughter and now about Sarah Bernhardt's
hairdresser and Lisa Maxwell, an eclectic gal who juggles her roles as a
jazz singer, teacher, advertising art director and mom.

These
multi-talented women have been meeting and writing for several years,
encouraging and supportive of each other's literary contributions.
Their stories about motherhood cover a plethora of topics, a tribute to
the women who raised them and a shout out to the children they have
reared. The Fairfield Public Library has provided space for these
ladies to create.

In "MoMoirs: I'll give You Something to Cry
about!," you will discover how Gayle Gleckler learned lessons about
bees, bubbles and wearing underwear. She also found out that loving
someone won't keep them from leaving you and that sensible Buster Brown
school shoes aren't anywhere near as wonderful as three inch high
turquoise snakeskin slingbacks. Gayle uncovered this shoe fact at six
years of age and confirmed it many times over as an adult. She can also
leach you how to make a floral lei as well as how to adjust to life, as
an adopted child, with a procession of father figures going through a
revolving door. She'll also demonstrate how gracefully and graciously
to become a new mom with Lamaze classes, an epidural and a big bag of
LifeSavers.

Eileen Grace will skip through her childhood with a
mom who was a postmistress and reveal a series of unhappy, lonely days
at a school run by nuns and her accidents and illnesses. She balances
the score with a family who made dish washing a fun singing game that
ended with wet washcloth fights. Her tomboy antics and love of climbing
trees gave her single mom many a scare, causing her to cry out "I Can't
Look" on numerous occasions. The youngest of five, Eileen values her
grandmother's rocking chair with it welcoming arms as one of her most
treasured possessions. She found writing "MoMoirs" an amazing
experience because she is an artist, not a writer.

For Linda
Howard Urbach, she uses a wry sense of humor to describe her
relationships with her mother Pearl and with her daughter Charlotte. She
encouraged the other women in the group to write, write, write and took
them along the path from polished to published, all without judgment or
criticism. Her mom who made a career out of sewing clothes for her,
clothes of pink velvet and corduroy that Linda wouldn't wear but kept in
her closet long after her mother died, fills many stories. Tales of
her own relationship with her teenage daughter pursue her fears of
Charlotte smoking, tattoos, tongue piercings, drugs, boys and getting a
driver's license and the thankful fact that few of those worries came
true. Be sure to ask her how she and Charlotte ended up with matching
tattoos.

Go barefoot through lazy summer days in Nantucket with
Lisa Maxwell as her signature sign of childhood rebellion. Ironically,
she grew up to become a woman who craves high, high heels in high
fashion styles. She learned how to sew at her mother's knee and tells a
poignant story about Mr. Yarn Man, a yarn doll who was tied to her
mom's favorite sewing scissors. Follow as Lisa confesses the pea-pee
incident, learning resourcefulness at her dad's insistence and fearing
his criticism, how to avoid church services and being confirmed and the
best places to find sea glass treasures at the beach with mom.

All
these honest, funny and heartbreaking tales are available. Contact
amazon.com or createspace.com. Books in black and white are $10 and
ones in color are $20.

They describe their stories as "literary apron strings," Tie one on and enjoy!

Monday, May 5, 2014

When
nineteen year old Libby Tucker arrives from her home in Brooklyn,
unannounced and uninvited, on her father's Hollywood doorstep, she
claims she is there to advance her show business career. Her desire to
be in the movies is the excuse she gives dad, a man she has not seen or
heard from in sixteen years.

Only Neil Simon could conjure up
this bittersweet comedy "I Ought to be in Pictures," and only the
Ivoryton Playhouse could provide it such a promising production until
Sunday, May 11.

The father-daughter dynamics fuel this family
interaction/confrontation. Libby is refreshingly candid, spunky and
endearing in the hands of Siobhan Fitzgerald. She wears her heart on
the sleeve of her camouflage jacket even as she tries to hide her
vulnerability. Her dad, Herb, is a screenwriter who hasn't made it big
YET. He has three failed marriages to his credit and is struggling to
make it on all fronts.

Mike Boland is appropriately shocked by
Libby's sudden appearance in his life. With sheepish humor, he tries to
justify his past actions and defend his decisions. Libby will have
none of that nonsense. He owes her, and owes her in spades, and now is
the day of reckoning. She is the steam roller and he is the freshly
paved road. His good care in nurturing a lemon and an orange tree do
not equal his blatant abandonment of his wife, son and daughter more
than a decade and a half ago.

Playing referee in the family
squabble is Steffy, a sweet and forgiving Jeanie Rapp, who quietly tries
to make everything neat and tied up with a bow. Is Herb able to help
his long lost daughter? Can all three of them discover their heart's
desire? Director R. Bruce Connelly makes us care a great deal about
this human triangle and root for the long promised happy ending.

For
tickets ($42, seniors $37, students $20, children $15), call the
Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online
atwww.ivorytonplayhouse.org.
Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and
Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Wednesday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Come
meet Libby and cheer her on in her quests to find her dad, to discover
why he left, to learn if he loves her and, just maybe, to make it in the
movies.

Come open the fairy tale book that features a sweet maiden and the monster who frightens the little village where she lives.

As fairy tales go, “Beauty
and the Beast” is one of the enchanted best. Belle, a luminous Hilary Malberger, is a lovely lass who would enjoy reading her precious
books from dawn to dusk, as long as she doesn’t have to fend off the affections
of the vain and egotistical Gaston, the tower of vanity Tim Rogan, who imagines himself to be a desirable gift
to womankind.

Meanwhile in a castle in the
forest, an enchantress, for displeasing her,

has cast a handsome prince into a
hideous beast. Only a love that is
pure and true can release him from his spell, and only before the last
petal
falls from a bewitched rose. Time is running out and he and his
household will be cursed for all eternity. The Beast is cloaked in the
persona of Darick Pead.

Enter the
fascinating musical
and magical world of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” waltzing into the
Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts for eight
performances, May 6-11, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m.,
Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Follow the brave heroine
Belle hoping to rescue her father Maurice who, after getting lost in the woods,
sought shelter at the castle of the Beast and becomes his prisoner. The angry Beast, who guards his
privacy, locks her father, an inventor, in a dungeon.

Belle discovers the castle
and a troop of unlikely helpers in Lumiere the candelabra, Mrs. Potts the
teapot, her son Chip the teacup and Cogsworth the clock. To free her father, Belle offers to
stay in the castle with the Beast if he will just let her father go home. In a wild adventure, Belle and her
father escape, Gaston and the villagers attack the castle, the Beast is grievously
wounded and Belle learns the meaning of true love.

For tickets ($19 and up), call
the Bushnell, 160 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online
at www.bushnell.org.

Discover for yourself how the
magic spell is broken, how the enchanted objects become human again and how
“happily ever after” is the way all fairy tales are supposed to end.